I have made great progress on my latest window commission, the story so far:
I have cut the glass, decided the blue was wrong and re-cut that in a different shade and type of glass, the blue was streaky cathedral and too much for the piece, so I have swapped it for some turquoise water glass, which is much more subtle and looks fantastic.
This piece is going to have acid etched details of heather and rocks, giving an impression of the landscape of the highlands. I love to work with acid etching, when you see the window from a distance you hardly notice the effects, but when the light coming through the window pools on the floor the shadow details of the piece come alive and it paints a picture on the floor, which I find magical. Acid etching is quite straight forward, I painted on the PVA glue (to act as a resist for the acid) to get a free and painterly effect to the etching. Once this has dried I cover in etching cream and leave it to eat away at the surface of the glass. Once this has happened I scrape off the cream, this can be reused and wash the rest of the acid off the glass and hope it has worked!
I then built the panel up with the lead came, soldered the joins and cemented the gaps between the glass and the lead and left the cement to harden off…………that is as far as I have got. Tomorrow I will put an acid on the lead and solder joins to darken the joins, makes the solder less shiny and noticeable. Then I will spend a considerable amount of time shining it all up with grate polish. Finally, I will find the best way to get it to Scotland! Anyone driving from Devon to the Highlands soon? Oh and dont forget to check out Nicki MacRae, she is the lady commissioning this piece and a talented artist www.nicki-paints.co.ukThOh